


Frenrey Drabbles of Fluffy Goodness

by LordTraco



Category: Half-Life
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, And kisses and confessions of love, Anxiety in chapter 3, Apologies, Chapter 4 has established relationship, Cheek Kisses, Dancing, Dissociation, Dissociation in chapter 3, Emotions, Fluff, Forehead Kisses, Forehead Touching, Forgiveness, Friendship, Happy, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, Roommates, Song Lyrics, Swears in chapter 2, swears
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-17 03:47:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28718313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordTraco/pseuds/LordTraco
Summary: Pure Frenrey fluff. Can be viewed as platonic or romantic as you please because cuddles and forehead touches are ambiguous and give me life.First: AU where Benrey's true form is a Protozoan (from Half-Life: Black Mesa).Second: Post-ACAB Stream Dance oneshot. Benrey sings some song lyrics and makes Gordon a pining mess.Third: Chapter 1 and 2 happened, Benrey is fine being vulnerable with his dance partner/roommate. But he's not fine asking if Gordon forgives him.Fourth: Valentine's Kisses
Relationships: Benrey/Gordon Freeman
Comments: 14
Kudos: 102





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really attached to the idea that Benrey can't form tears... And having him cry anyways.  
> I'm still the angst lord so please expect very mild sadness and hurt/comfort mixed in now and then. Always with happy ends though!

"So what do you really look like?" It was a casual question asked on a normal foggy morning. Just two pals chilling out playing Kirby as far away physically and mentally from that desert hellscape and alien planet as they could get. And yet still Gordon found himself with questions.

"Huh?" Benrey's response would have made him repeat himself if he hadn't learned nuances of his roommate's subtle gestures. The flicker of the eye meant it was a question he'd heard and the tenseness in his shoulders meant he was hesitant to answer. He could stand to continue asking. He trusted Benrey would say no if his questions went too far.

"You said you weren't human. This isn't your real form, right?" Gordon clarified.

"No…" Benrey paused the game and put the controller down. That could be a good sign, that he was willing to talk seriously, or a sign he was gonna flee. He wrung his hands together, massaging them like they were cold. It was never that cold to Gordon, but his roommate always acted like it was the arctic.

"Can I… does it hurt to change to your real form?" Gordon hesitated. He didn't want to ask that Benrey transform here and now just for the sake his curiosity if it was painful. There could be plenty of reasons why not to change.

"You wouldn't… no but it's weird. You'd laugh." 

"Are you secretly a catboy?"

"Wha-NO!!" Benrey laughed and his unease lifted a little. "No I'm not a catboy, Feetman, didn't know you were-"

"If you're not a catboy I won't laugh. I'm just curious what you really look like."

Benrey seemed to consider it a moment, then slowly stood up. "I've got zero armor buffs and can't talk in my true form, so you get five minutes and we never speak of this again."

Without waiting for an answer, Benrey went to the microwave in the kitchen and set the timer. 

Gordon tried to complain that technically he was now getting less than five minutes, but his voice was cut out by Benrey's singing. It shifted from his normal tones of Sweet Voice to a more… jingling chirp sorta noise. After a bit it almost sounded like a purr.

He nearly broke his promise a whole 15 seconds in as the idea of Benrey having a magical girl transformation into a catboy played in his brain. Gordon refrained from laughing, flicking from his casual, anime-loving brain to his scientific mind. He was ready to see the truth of what Benrey was.

…

Or he thought he was.

Gordon blinked, blinked twice, rubbed his glasses, blinked again. But the shape in front of him didn't clear any differently.

"What the hell…?" Gordon reached out to the shape before him. It looked like a cell, but huge. As-big-as-his-body huge! There were soft lights inside that he couldn't tell if they were just iridescent reflections of the light around them or actual glows from within. The outside layer, when it caught the light of the TV screen, had little stars of green shining. Only in the outer edge.

The glowing lights inside (and they were glowing from within, he decided) were a multitude of colors, but mainly blues and reds.

The shape came to his outstretched hand with that same jingling purr and a blue glow that smelled of raspberries. There was no mass to the thing. It just floated through him, its shape never staying still.

"Benrey, come here." He said, beckoning towards himself again. When it- _ he  _ did so, Gordon found himself astounded. This blob really was Benrey.

The shape engulfed him, but he felt nothing but safety in the pretty hues. He stayed like that for a long while, just letting the colors pass by as the purring soothed him. This was nice.

When the microwave beeped, the blob backed away as if surprised, but returned to the lazy floating pace fairly fast. 

"Wait!" Gordon reached out again, resting his hand along the edge of the blob despite there being no resistance. It paused and he could taste the expectations and reservations that Benrey must have. "I just wanted to tell you you're beautiful. Thank you for trusting me."

The purrs turned to whines like a siren, and far quicker than before, Benrey was back in his own shape, hoodie and all, and was hugging him.

Gordon returned the hug, noting a small tremble in Benrey. He carded his fingers through Benrey's hair with one hand and rubbed calming circles in his back with his prosthetic. He wasn't sure exactly what had the alien so upset, but he was happy to be holding him again.

"You coulda been One Punch Man and killed me, dude." His voice was nearly monotone, but there was a warble to it that came from his trembling body. He hid his face against Gordon's shoulder, breath hitching. They both knew if he'd figured out tear ducts, Gordon's shoulder would be wet by now.

"I wouldn't. You know I wouldn't. And I know you wouldn't hurt me either." Gordon tired of hugging while standing and decided to scoop up the smaller man and bring the both of them back to the couch. "We're safe here, remember?"

"Yeah…" Benrey exhaled and the soft chime-purr that came with it melted Gordon's heart. Through the window, the sun was setting in purples and reds and danced along the walls of their livingroom. 

Gordon pulled Benrey away softly to bathe his form in those celestial colors in the most human of ways. "You know, you're pretty in both forms."

"You're beautiful too, you multicellular weirdo." Benrey put his forehead to Gordon's, chirping out the melodies of his own language. If they happened to mean something sappy, who would judge?


	2. Dancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's 3am have some dancing, pining, momentary angst all smothered in fluff! Kind of a song fic in that it incorporates two songs.
> 
> The songs are Leave Me Alone by IDKHOW and Fake Affront by Pulsifer. Listening to them is optional, fic mentions relevant lyrics.
> 
> Warning for swearing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry to anyone who knows dancing. I looked up the BPM needed for different dance styles to match the songs to one that works, but who knows. Also dance terminology is impossible to find, so I did my best. 10+ years of watching DWTS has failed to teach me much.
> 
> Also it's 3:30am so I blame any mistakes on that!

Dancing.

It had seemed like an innocuous idea at the time. Just a neat method of getting access to a well secured casino. Enter the dance competition and stay in just long enough to figure out their weak spots in the security, and pull off another heist.

Gordon tried telling the others he was bad at dancing alone. But Bubby and Dr. Coomer were already a duo and Tommy was insanely good on his own. Gordon accepted that he would just lose in the beginning and work from the background like Darnold.

At least… that was his plan.

He was eliminated quickly after his attempt at Singing in the Rain. He knew he wouldn't be able to do it justice, but it was fun. As he prepared to leave, however, the next contestant brushed past him.

Benrey.

"Yo" was all he said as he went on to… vogue at the judges to the beat of some video game music. He was similarly eliminated.

Things could have ended there, he could have left and helped from afar. Instead, he stayed for the conversation that doomed him.

...

"What are you doing here you aren't part of this!" Gordon argued under his breath as the guy he hated approached him again.

"Oh bro, this a heist? Count me in!" He at least had the decency to say it quietly, Gordon was happy about that.

"It's not going to go well if you can't stay, Gordon." Dr. Coomer said. "We need you here!"

"I told you all I can't dance well alone!" He argued, realizing he might have failed to elaborate on his plan to work from the background.

" _ The rules say you can re-enter if the number of dancers changes."  _ Darnold said in their earpieces helpfully.

"Betcha can't dance well at all." Benrey teased. "Lil Chicken hat would lose track of his feet."

"Says the one who-" Gordon was cut off by Benrey approaching him. A hand was at Gordon's shoulder and his other arm reached for his expectantly. The dancing posture came instinctively as they locked eyes. 

It was strange how quickly proper hold came back to him and that all it took was a willing partner. Stranger still was that it overrode his near instinctive mistrust of Benrey. Benrey, who he hated. Benrey, who was in his arms. Benrey, who was in the position to let Gordon lead.

One thing led to another and they were in. Their Paso Doble was intense, bordering on aggressive. And it was cathartic for both of them.

...

For Gordon, he'd enjoyed wearing his rage and displeasure clearly on his face. He enjoyed the way he tossed around, ran at, and pretended to kill Benrey. He enjoyed the forced silence, a freedom from the guy's constant irritations. Most of all, he enjoyed leading the dance. It made him feel in control, like nothing would go wrong.

It was only later that he'd learned that it was healing for Benrey too. The guy didn't show it, but he had a slight fear of him ever since dying. Having Gordon twirl him, look at him with unadulterated rage, and approach like he was ready to kill was scary. But each and every time, he survived. Each and every time it proved to just be a performance, he was set at ease.

It built trust between the two of them beyond just shooting at a shared enemy. Neither had any weapons on them while dancing, and Gordon was the one swinging and lifting Benrey, capable of dropping him at any point.

The times he did accidentally drop Benrey, the not-human usually just subtly used his floating ability to stop it from hurting. But by the time that happened, months after they started dancing together, Gordon was actually relieved Benrey wasn't hurt. It had blown his mind at the time to actually be relieved not to bring Benrey pain.

...

Gordon sighed in the chair. It had been close to a year now that they'd been dancing. It was actually pretty fun just dancing at competitions. They didn't have to win, they didn't need the money after all the heists. They just enjoyed performing. And being together.

"You ready? Found another song!" Benrey asked, standing over him and staring in the way that used to unsettled Gordon.

"If you say you chose another Argentine Tango just because it fits the BPM-"

"But-"

"I told you no."

"Fine, fine, I chose a back up for the N00b. Two, even. Rumba or Paso Doble?"

Gordon closed his eyes a moment, took a breath, and tried very hard not to imagine Benrey moving his hips in that smooth Cuban motion. "Why a rumba?"

"Ever heard the song Leave Me Alone?" Benrey asked with a smirk. 

"Can't say I-" he stopped, transfixed by the scene before him.

Benrey had his arms up in hold position and sang while dancing. His hips swayed to the slow beat he managed to replicate with some low-toned Sweet Voice.

"Big shot, so what~

do you wanna pretend~?" Benrey moved with controlled grace and perfect musicality, locking eyes with Gordon. There was a definite innuendo there, snark was just a default, but there was something else.

Perhaps it was the sensuality of the movements or the pretty colors in the air, but Gordon felt something stir in him. It was something he tried only to let show when he could play it off as a performance. Something he didn't want to justify with a name.

"You took the money~

But the money couldn't buy a friend~" Benrey extended his arm beautifully, turning it to accentuate his swaying forward movement. 

It was almost hypnotic. Despite the baggy hoodie and sweatpants he was sporting, Benrey filled the space he moved in with something magical. His motions left afterimages in his eyes like he was oh so gently glitching, his limbs seemed to extend just the slightest more than they should, and the very air seemed to hold his soft joy of dancing. Beyond the literal bubbles of joy, that is.

When they moved as one, Gordon was stuck in his own mind trying to keep the technique perfect. But on these occasions where he was allowed to watch, he was captivated. Benrey let loose in these times. He glitched and shimmered and let colors grace the air regardless of whether they fit an aesthetic. He was free to feel and be who he was in front of Gordon.

The lyrics dragged him back to the present as Benrey reached a hand out towards him, ghosting a hand right at his cheek, "Now I want you~"

Gordon leaned into the touch but found it gone, the affectionate almost touch pulled back towards the man who took a spare breath to smirk. Something sat heavy in Gordon's chest.

"To leave me~" Benrey continued his steps, finishing off the line with two dumb finger guns shooting with each syllable, "Alone~"

With that, it was over. Benrey was standing there, unsettlingly perfect posture and expectant face. It took Gordon a moment to remember he was just offering a choice for their next dance. It hadn't meant anything.

None of it had. Not a single flirting look or innuendo or stage kiss. None of it.

Gordon felt almost nauseous. In that moment just then, he'd wanted it to. He'd wanted so bad just to be touched tenderly by someone inviting him to dance something so sensual.

Benrey frowned and he figured he'd taken too long. "That was… that was good. You said the other was a Paso?" Gordon wanted to excuse himself, run to the bathroom to regain composure. He cursed his stubborn nature for rooting him to that spot.

"Oh yeah, one sec! This one's our theme song!"

This wasn't helping. Hearing Benrey say "our theme song" made the plummeted rock in his gut transform into a dozen fuzzy moths that tickled his insides. They weren't butterflies. Butterflies had a connotation that couldn't be this. This was moths. Moths he wished he could shoot at with bullets.

He wasn't sure what happened to the moths inside when Benrey pressed play on the song. It had a woman singing "shut the fuck up" in the most passive-aggressive voice he'd ever heard while a deeper voice sang the grumpy lyrics. 

He smiled, but he felt empty. That song described them perfectly back in Black Mesa and Xen. Hell, both of them did. He'd wanted Benrey gone constantly and told him to shut up more times than he could count.

But after months of trusting in each other and dancing together, this was still their song in Benrey's mind? That hurt.

"Dude. You can just say ya hate it."

"That's our song." Gordon said. He wanted it as a question, but it came out as an upset statement.

"That's what I said."

"That's. Our song. Not something hopeful or happy or caring in any damn-no, I'm done." He started walking away, but an arm caught his.

He waited, eventually turning around to glare at Benrey. He looked like he was struggling for words.

"It. That was! Didn't you hear it?"

"I heard it just fine." He tried to wrench his arm away but found it stuck like a vice.

"She sang your catchphrase for me!" 

"...What?"

"Your catchphrase. Your auto NPC dialogue. You got 'hey Dr. Coomer' for your favorite boxer and 'shut the fuck up' for your favorite Benny." Benrey met his gaze, his usual blank expression now purposefully trying to look sincere or sad. It was hard to tell.

"Catchphrase," Gordon repeated, trying to get past the use of the word "favorite" later on. He felt the hand letting go of his arm. "Yeah I… guess at some point it became that, didn't it?"

"And since we always have Paso Dobles that end in PvP, maybe this could end on a mercy run? Please?" Benrey said with a slight pleading whine to his voice like that time with the rocket.

Gordon didn't answer verbally. He just nodded and did the fancy upward rolling arm movements of a paso. When his arms lowered into hold, his partner was there, fitting smoothly into place like the right puzzle piece. 

Forget the moths, forget trying to name his feelings. This felt right, and that's all he wanted. He just wanted the excuse to dance with Benrey forever, to hold him close and lead him across floors new and old.

He wasn't as cruel as Benrey. When the movement gave opportunity to ghost a hand by his cheek, he kept it there in an unspoken question. Benrey leaned into it and he did not pull away. Gordon indulged further and caressed his cheek with his thumb softly.

"Cringe, bro." Benrey said with a smile.

"Shut the fuck up." Gordon said quietly with nothing but earnest care. He leaned in, pressing his forehead to Benrey's and closing his eyes.

In his eyelids, the darker shadows formed the shapes of Benrey dancing. He wished the afterimages, like this swaying hug, could last forever.

  
  



	3. Forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *slaps the two previous chapters together* What if they were the same continuity and I tossed in Benrey's side of things? 
> 
> Have a chapter in which Benrey reminisces, apologizes for his actions in canon HLVRAI, and has some tender turned silly moments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for dissociation/disbelief in reality. Many mentions of Benrey expecting a sudden end or to wake up after good experiences. I don't know a good way to tag this.

Benrey never felt more himself than when he danced. Motions could be smoothed out by a masterful blend of shapeshifting and glitching, his ability to float could help him glide effortlessly across a floor, and he could sing along in sweet voice with the music. He felt powerful, honest, and yet vulnerable.

Vulnerable. It wasn't something he liked to feel usually. He usually hid in some way or another. Whether he hid in this human form or hid his true feelings behind an aloof and teasing persona, he was always behind a mask. How freeing it was to lift that mask for someone so lovely.

There was a pun in there somewhere. Freeman was the man who made him feel free to be himself. He was allowed to be strong, inhuman, beautiful, seen, and adored as long as he followed Gordon's imperfect footwork. He could dress in flowing fabrics or tight suits or usually blends of both. He could be lifted into the air by someone else's steady hands, the same hands that warmed his own as they spun. He could wear his heart on his sleeve and express every bit of adoration for this man, swirling it into the air so everyone in the room could feel it too.

Gordon occupied his thoughts a lot. Whatever he wore always suited him and every way he fashioned his long hair made Benrey smile. Especially when he was given the honor of helping him brush or braid it. When they combined their efforts, lovely things could be made.

Every dance felt like the culmination of their story, another happy epilogue to their past battles. It always felt like it should fade to black upon ending, game complete, everything's over. Yet it didn't.

Every single time, Benrey would close his eyes, bracing for the end credits. And every single time he would open them to see an applauding crowd and a pleased partner. The game wasn't over, his dream come true kept on going. 

He didn't dare wish for anything to change. Even after months and months, it all still felt fragile. Why shouldn't it? They had tried to kill one another, and while he forgave Gordon, he couldn't just expect the same in return. 

He couldn't expect it, and he couldn't bring himself to ask or bring it up. Hell he showed Gordon his real, weak form a handful of days ago, trusted the man not to oneshot him! He danced the Rumba in front of him and admitted to thinking of something as  _ their _ song the other day! But asking "Do you forgive what I did" was enough to make him hug his knees tight and breathe through the ensuing panic at the mere thought.

Of course that's how Gordon found him, curled up and cursing. He fumbled to compose himself, put the mask back on, pretend it was all fine.

"You done overthinking and ready to lose at DDR?" Gordon asked from the doorway. 

Gordon knew him by now, it seemed. He gave up pushing him for answers on everything a long while back. He was more patient than Benrey could ever have imagined him being back in Black Mesa. It messed with him, made him want to say more than he should just to grab his attention.

He stayed put, still stuck in his own thoughts as Gordon approached. As Gordon entered his room without permission. He perked up. "You're not supposed to be here."

"I knew that'd work." Gordon took a few steps back to the doorway again. "To be fair, I had to check you weren't hiding a flesh wound or something. And how else was I gonna give you my passport?"

Benrey looked down in front of him, realizing Gordon had in fact placed his passport down for Benrey. He chucked, some Sweet Voice seeping out. "Really?"

"So do you want to say what's on your mind or come play games? Because if you need time, I can go rack up a crazy high score for you to try to beat."

Benrey just blinked, mulling it over. "You can come in."

"You're so good at answering questions." Gordon said with a roll of his eyes. He entered the room and sat on the floor beside Benrey. "What has you upset?"

Benrey remained quiet.

"Have I done anything to upset you?" Benrey recognized the tone as one he used when Joshua was upset. It was a sincere question, blanketed in patience without judgement. 

"Opposite that."

It was Gordon's turn to stay quiet.

"I've done a ton to upset you." Benrey let go of his knees so he could sit more comfortably cross-legged. It gave him reason to look anywhere but at Gordon.

"If you're afraid that I'm still mad at you for eating all the whipped cream, I told you it's not that big a deal."

Benrey hugged himself, shaking his head. "I'm not sorry for  _ that _ , I'm sorry for the... the big stuff. The stuff we don't talk about."

Gordon tilted his head in confusion. 

"I don't want to spell out every bad I did. What if I miss one? What if I miss a bunch and they're the ones you'll never forgive?"

"Benrey."

He stopped and instead sang low-toned Sweet Voice to calm down. The colors were swimming around above them. Gordon waited for him to finish and look in his direction again.

"I've learned the difference between clear and crystal clear. Crystal clear means you're being sincere. And you make those a lot when we dance to songs about regret." He stood, offering a hand to help Benrey up.

As they stood, Gordon gently pulled him close and started a simple box step. The motion let Benrey work off his anxiety, and he wasn't expected to meet Gordon's eyes in this hold.

"I appreciate the words being said, I do. But your actions have made it clear months ago that you won't do it again and that you want to make things right. That's all three steps to a good apology."

Benrey stopped moving and Gordon did moments after. "Even the highest level apology doesn't guarantee winning forgiveness."

"No. It doesn't." Gordon's tone was deeper now, more serious. "I can choose not to ever forgive you for costing me my hand, betraying me, and trying to kill me and our friends."

Benrey made to pull away and Gordon let him, but a gentle, cool touch of metal pressed to his cheek brought his gaze back. Benrey's momentary desire to flee dissipated at the caring look he was being fixed with.

"But I do forgive you. For all of it. For better or worse, I trust that you're good now. And for what it's worth, I am sorry for killing you back then."

Benrey let out a long bunch of pretty tones, searching Gordon's eyes for any tiny hint that this was fake, that it was a joke meant to hurt him. He found none.

"I forgive you too," he managed to get out. Benrey closed his eyes, fear encapsulating him. This was surely the end. He'd wake up now, he'd blink and remember he was just really immersed in a realistic dating sim, he'd… he'd be alone any moment now.

A kiss to his forehead grounded him along with the hands of different temperatures cupping either side of his face. As he opened his eyes to see Gordon's brilliant smile, Benrey finally accepted this was reality. No game developer in their right mind would continue the epilogue this long and this slow. The insane fear he'd just felt would have woken him from the deepest slumber. This was real.

He exhaled in relief, a chirpy purr making its way out as well. 

"Better now?"

"Yup"

"Good, because I bought more whipped cream and put it all over your Switch as payback."

"YOU WHAT!?!" Benrey pushed Gordon aside and tore down the short hallway to the living room. Sure enough, the place his Switch had been was now a mountain of whipped cream.

He tore through the sticky mess, hoping that it was salvageable. He ran through what games were stored in the cloud and could be saved if his precious console was-

His hands touched… cardboard? Gordon entered the room with a smile on his face. It wasn't the face of a man who'd just destroyed something. He also had a box of wet-wipes.

"The prank was Bubby's idea, blame him. The whole Science Team pitched in to get you these, though.

Benrey cleaned off the box quietly, he opened to find a leather case. Inside that, he found his Switch, perfectly safe. There were four extra controllers, though, all beautifully painted ones to look like a galaxy.

No.

The colors were reds and purples and blues and some faint greens. It looked like. Like him. Like his real form.

"Now you have enough to play with the whole Science Team."

Benrey quietly put the case on the couch, still reeling from the prank. The gift itself was incredibly thoughtful, packaged in a way that allowed him an easy out from having to awkwardly express gratitude. He'd have to thank Bubby later.

Benrey took two huge globs of whipped cream and turned towards Gordon with a neutral expression. A neutral expression he could read anyways.

Gordon hid behind the couch, "I told you it was Bubby!" He made to go left when Benrey went right, and they circled around the couch a couple times.

"You still threatened my baby!" Benrey yelled, climbing over from the cushion his precious console wasn't on, lunging at Gordon.

He ended up slathering Gordon's neck and glasses with whipped cream before his hands were caught. Their laughter rang out as they wrestled a bit to get the other dirty.

"Your baby looked a bit shit!" Gordon countered, obviously knowing full well that he was only escalating their food fight. A quick glance to the kitchen full of newly bought cleaning supplies said that he'd prepared for this.

Benrey smiled and let Gordon wipe off his glasses a moment, retrieving something from the kitchen. He then approached to press a quick kiss to Gordon's cheek… and spray whipped cream directly into the back of his hair. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this instead of Instinctive Misconceptions... Which I've promised will update every Monday... Welp. Wish me luck!


	4. Color Wheel Theory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gordon reads the Color Wheel Theory of Love page of Wikipedia. And then decides it's wrong and expresses exactly why with kisses to his boyfriend.
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day, may the vicarious lovey dovey times be as cathartic to read as it was to write!

"Feetman. I have questions."

"Yeah?"

"Wiki says that love is color coded, so which way do you love me?"

"We're boyfriends and what are you  _ talking about???" _

Benrey snagged the computer Gordon had been using to write up an email. Thankfully he wasn't being a complete jerk and left that untouched as he opened a new tab. 

"Color Wheel Theory of Love. Which way do you love me?"

Gordon took back the computer, tilting his head in confusion. He'd never heard of this, but it made sense. English was pretty vague on love in terms of familial, romantic, or otherwise. 

Benrey's leg bounced beside him as he read, the soft fabric sounds filling the silence pleasantly. When Gordon read Ludus, he found himself smiling. That clicked. The desire for fun, for video games and teasing remarks, for laughter so strong it brings tears to his eyes. 

But he wouldn't be a scientist if he didn't research further. Eros had of course explained love in the usual form, finding him attractive and wanting to kiss him was of course there as well as the butterflies when thinking of him. A mix of those two, maybe?

Gordon patted Benrey's leg, an apology for the prolonged quiet. He frowned when he found the mix of Eros and Ludus to be mania. The words "obsessive" and "codependent" had him pull himself inward as if to shield from the blows. 

Frantically, he scrolled back up to Storge, hoping to find a more fitting, less bleak outlook for love.

That fit too, especially when saying how it could develop out of friendship and from living together. It was a breath of fresh air, a hope that this silly website wouldn't be telling him their relationship was hopeless now. Of course actually living and seeing one another as real, whole people would prevent that obsession of Mania. Gordon felt silly for skipping it.

Familial and fun. That was probably the right answer, right? Storge and Ludus made… pragma. As he went along he was left confused. Where was the fun of Ludus here? This was just business partners, assigned marriages, practicality above passion or emotion.

He huffed out an irritated sigh and scrolled up. Last shot. What was Eros and Storge?

Agape. Selfless love that was signified by the color orange. It seemed fitting, which was a relief, but he hated how much it felt like a one-sided charity case! He loved Benrey and reasonably expected love back in equal abundance. Maybe in different forms and words, but no.

Gordon put the laptop down in front of him and closed it with a glare before turning to Benrey. He was quiet, had been quiet. Even if his face showed nothing, the silence screamed his anxiety.

"All of them." 

"You can't choose all of them, that's cheating! Gordon Cheatman!"

"Yes I can, and I'll prove it." Gordon said with the confidence usually reserved for the last lap of Mario kart when he had a blue shell to use.

Getting to his feet, he towered over his seated boyfriend, whose legs only jittered more in excitement. A gentle hand cupped Benrey's cheek with that wonderfully familiar warmth.

"What, gonna buttonmash love?" Benrey asked, his snark not working when he all but melted into the welcome touch.

"Yes. Because you see," Gordon rubbed his thumb in gentle motions under Benrey's eye, smiling when it earned him a chaste kiss to his lower palm. "You see, I have storgic love for you, my friend and roommate who sorts the socks."

Benrey's face scrunched up a little as he tried to bite back a laugh, and failed. "What??"

Gordon smiled softly, his seriousness unchanged. "This place is home because of you. I trust you and love being around you." He punctuated his sentence with a kiss to Benrey's forehead.

"So I'm just your bro?" Benrey teased.

Gordon laughed and almost everything about his aura and mannerisms changed. His eyes were brighter, his smile wider, and he kneeled down to be on Benrey's level. He sounded more playful when he spoke, too.

"I have Ludic love for you in spades. You are hilarious and you can make even the darkest or most boring times a blast!" His hands moved to hold Benrey's and plant kisses to each of his wrists. "I love when these hands mess up and let me win at games~"

Benrey made a show of pulling his hands away and looking mock-offended. "Those wins are stolen goods you thief!"

"I think I've stolen more than just wins." Gordon moved closer and Benrey leaned forward to meet him. He stopped a moment to say, "Kiss me if I've stolen your heart~"

Their kiss started soft but Gordon deepened it bit by bit, ending it after a little while with a gentle dragging bite to his lower lip. 

"I love you with the passion of Eros, Benrey. You are fascinating, you fill so much of my heart, you… I don't have words." He dove in for another kiss that Benrey gladly returned.

They ended up forehead to forehead, breathing heavy to catch their breath, staring deep into each other's eyes. Benrey blinked slowly, something he either did naturally or had learned to do in order to calm down cats. Either way, Gordon responded in kind.

"So you love me in a gay way? Whole rainbow? Like Skittles?" 

Gordon moved so his face was in Benrey's shoulder and groaned. This had been a setup. A silly, loving, setup.

"Taste the rainbow, Gordo, it's the closest you've got to sweet voice!" Benrey hugged him close, chuckling at his own jokes and at Gordon disliking his jokes.

Finally, Benrey took pity on him. He pushed Gordon back a little and kissed his forehead. "I love you that way too, Feetman!"

**Author's Note:**

> Toss me an idea for fluff and I'll try to write it in between my other fics!


End file.
